First look: Google's new HQ is engineered for creative collisions

NBBJ-designed Bay View campus, shaped by workplace analysis, will be the company's first purpose-built facility.

February 25, 2013 |

BD+C Staff

A newly released rendering of Google's new HQ—designed to replace the much-remodeled suburban office park the firm now occupies in Mountain View, Calif.—shows a series of low-slung buildings designed to bring people together. Formally known as the Bay View campus, the new "Googleplex" will be engineered to make sure no employee will be more than a 2.5 minute walk away from any other. The site design and the bent-rectangle building footprint were created by architect NBBJ based on Google's extensive analysis of employee work patterns. All the structures will be connected by bridges and will be punctuated by green roofs and other outdoor gathering spaces.

The complex will comprise more than 1 million sf and will be Google's first purpose-built campus. Previously, the company has grown by finding and renovating existing facilities.